As we approach the end of another Premier League campaign, questions concerning whether Roy Hodgson will continue in the English top-fligh...
As we approach the end of another Premier League campaign, questions concerning whether Roy Hodgson will continue in the English top-flight are legitimate, given his advancing years.
That’s not to say that Crystal Palace have underperformed or that the former England manager has done a poor job.
However, sometimes things need freshening up, both in the dugout and on the pitch.
It was Hodgson’s intervention that apparently kept Christian Benteke at the club back in January, but the Belgian has given no guarantees that he’ll stay in south London beyond this season, whether Hodgson remains in-situ or not.
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| Could Christian Benteke leave Crystal Palace? |
“In December I read in the press that I could leave,” he told Gazet van Antwerpen, cited by Sport Witness.
“I immediately went to the coach and asked him: ‘Do I still fit into your plans?’ He replied: ‘Yes, but there will be competition. It will be difficult to guarantee your chances of playing, but you are in my plans’. When he said that, it was clear to me that I wanted to stay.
“That is why [he rejected an approach from West Brom] and also because I did not want to leave in January. In the summer you have more time to weigh up the pros and cons and make a well-considered choice. Maybe I want to take on a challenge in another country.”
Though Benteke hasn’t been a regular starter for the club, they can’t countenance losing the centre-forward if team-mate, Wilfried Zaha, digs his heels in and decides on a move away after also hinting at the same for some while now.
Palace won’t go down and are unlikely to get into the European places. Whether Benteke is prepared to settle for more of the same in 2021/22 remains to be seen.
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